Haro Woods is one of the few

urban forest An urban forest is a forest, or a collection of trees, that grow within a city, town or a suburb. In a wider sense, it may include any kind of woody plant vegetation growing in and around human settlements. As opposed to a forest park, whose eco ...

s remaining in the Municipality of Saanich, one of the 13 municipalities which make up the

Capital Regional District The Capital Regional District (CRD) is a local government administrative district encompassing the southern tip of Vancouver Island and the southern Gulf Islands in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The CRD is one of several regional d ...

(CRD) on the south portion of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

(CRD includes and 3 electoral areas, also). It is similar in beauty to Mystic Vale, the forested ravine located to the south east and outside of the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

(UVIC) campus. Mystic Vale is on the

list of protected areas of British Columbia The following list of protected areas of British Columbia includes all federally and provincially protected areas within the Canadian province of British Columbia. As of 2015, approximately 15.46% of the province's land area and 3.17% of the p ...

Geography and Location

The total area of Haro Woods is about 9 hectares (approx. 22.25 acres). The northwest half (4.5 hectares, or 11.1 acres) is owned by the Queen Alexandra Foundation for Children's Health. The southeast half of Haro Woods is now split between the Municipality of Saanich (3 hectares, or about 7.4 acres) and UVIC (1.5 hectares, or about 3.7 acres).

Controversy

CRD purchased the northwest half of the Woods from the Queen Alexandra Foundation for Children's Health so that it would possibly be available to use for sewage treatment by the region. The QA Foundation leases some of their land to VIHA to provide medical services to children at the Queen Alexandra Centre for Children's Health. Concerned citizens realize Haro Woods might face a new threat, that of the destruction of its central core, in order to build one of CRD's secondary sewage treatment plants. The construction of such a plant in this area runs against urban planning as most settlements and cities show forethought and conscious design in their layout and functioning. Haro Woods is of historical significance as a public wild woodland in the Queenswood neighbourhood with many citizens and members of th
Cadboro Bay Residents Association
working to remove

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

(blackberry, broom etc.) from one of its sections. In the spring of 2008 in a three-week period, thousands of signatures were gathered in a petition to save the area from inappropriate development. UVIC has already committed in their Campus Plan to retain their part of Haro Woods as protected greenspace "in perpetuity". It now appears, in 2011, that sewage treatment will be developed at other sites in the Greater Victoria region. Saanich, British Columbia